28 Jun A Note from Herb Regarding Homelessness (in English and Korean)

The number one crisis facing the City of Los Angeles today is homelessness. Homelessness touches every part of Los Angeles. If we’re going to end homelessness, we need to create solutions in every community.

Every community needs a different solution based on the homeless population located in their neighborhood. In Koreatown, the greatest need is to provide a temporary housing facility for individuals living on the street. In the southern and western portions of Council District 10, the greatest need is to provide Safe Parking programs for the individuals sleeping in their cars, campers, or RVs.

For the last seven weeks, I have been having conversations with individuals and groups throughout the Koreatown region in an effort to move the City and the community forward together on this issue to help the homeless get off the streets and into housing. As part of an amending motion to restart the process on Friday, I will ask my colleagues on the City Council to approve the following:

• Evaluate sites which will include the City-owned LADOT parking lot located at 682 S. Vermont Avenue and the privately-owned lots at 923-937 S. Kenmore Avenue to determine if a property is suitable for development as a crisis and bridge housing facility in Koreatown; require the City staff to return with the findings; require a one year contract with two one year extensions (for a total of three years); require 24/7 private security and LAPD patrols of the site, including the surrounding businesses and residences; require the capability to provide culturally and language (i.e. Korean, Spanish, etc.) appropriate services for the site; and provide mental health, employment, addiction, housing placement services, and wellness resources.

• Create a Council District 10 Commission on Koreatown Homelessness to oversee and provide recommendations to the Council Office with respect to the crisis and bridge housing facility in Koreatown throughout its development and operations, including quarterly reports to the Council office. The Commission will also provide recommendations for the future long-term use of 682 S. Vermont Avenue which may include senior affordable/supportive housing. It should be noted that between 2017 and 2018, there was a 26 percent increase in seniors experiencing homelessness in the City of Los Angeles.

• Evaluate the City-owned Council District 10 Office parking lot at 1819 S. Western Avenue to determine if the property is suitable for development as a second and separate crisis and bridge housing facility, which would include all of the same provisions as described above.

• Evaluate lots in the southern portion of Council District 10, working with religious institutions and City Departments to determine if properties are suitable for Safe Parking programs.

In the months leading up to these new temporary housing facilities opening, the County of Los Angeles will direct unprecedented outreach, mental health, career, and addiction support services to encampments in close proximity to the new facilities to help prepare homeless individuals to move indoors. Once a temporary housing facility opens and the homeless move in, the Bureau of Sanitation will also work to restore spaces in the community that were previous encampment sites into safe, clean, public passageways with special dedicated funding.

Furthermore, as part of the Koreatown solution, I am committed to holding a review of different sites and community workshops/meetings/gatherings in Koreatown during the summer prior to the City Council taking final action on a temporary housing facility.

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Tune in this morning to Power 106 Los Angeles - I will be on with Nick Cannon at 7:20 AM discussing the Black Lives Matter protests and what we as law makers can do to ensure real systemic change comes from this movement.